


haven't felt so alive in years

by kageygirl



Series: they don't write 'em like that anymore [3]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Developing Relationship, M/M, Slice of Life, Soft Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Soft Jaskier | Dandelion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24929815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kageygirl/pseuds/kageygirl
Summary: Jaskier draws up beside him, still grinning, even as the rain darkens his doublet with nearly imperceptible wet little thumps.  It nags at Geralt, that he can't see the reason for that smile."You hate rain," he says, implying the question."I hatethunderstorms," Jaskier says, shaking his head, "though I admit that for dramatic effect, they really can't be beat.  But this is a sunshower, Geralt!"He spreads his hands as if he's made some sort of point.  If he has, Geralt is not privy to it.  "I fail to see the difference."
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: they don't write 'em like that anymore [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774939
Comments: 31
Kudos: 578





	haven't felt so alive in years

**Author's Note:**

> Based primarily on the Netflix show/map/timeline, with a fair amount of pillaging of various wikis, fandom osmosis, and liberties wildly taken.
> 
> Title is from "But Not Tonight" by Depeche Mode, though I prefer the vibe of the Scott Weiland cover.

"Ah!"

The chance that something unexpectedly bad has befallen the bard on this deserted stretch of sunlit road are low; he can sense no large creatures nearby, and the road is in fair condition. But Geralt wheels Roach around without hesitation at Jaskier's cry, lest his miscalculation have deadly consequences.

Only to get hit directly in the forehead by a fat raindrop, of the same company now sweeping down the road from behind them, pelting energetically into the dust.

He blinks his vision clear and looks over Jaskier, who is staring up at the sky, arms wide, as if welcoming the midafternoon squall. Otherwise, he appears fine; he keeps flinching involuntarily when the drops land too close to his eyes, but that seems to be of oddly little concern to him. 

He turns to Geralt, beaming, his hair already beginning to paste itself wetly to his forehead, and Geralt fights down a reflexive smile in return. 

"Geralt!" he shouts, clearly if inexplicably delighted. "Isn't it marvelous?"

He can feel water starting to trickle down his own scalp. "That's a word for it." 

Satisfied that the bard is in no more danger than a dampening, and whatever his incomprehensible fancies are doing to his brain, Geralt guides Roach back in the direction they'd been heading. He would consider bringing out his cloak, but he'd smelled the rain on the air earlier, and the cloak is currently wrapped around the lute case tied to Roach's saddle.

Jaskier draws up beside him, still grinning, even as the rain darkens his doublet with nearly imperceptible wet little thumps. It nags at Geralt, that he can't see the reason for that smile. 

"You hate rain," he says, implying the question.

"I hate _thunderstorms_ ," Jaskier says, shaking his head, "though I admit that for dramatic effect, they really can't be beat. But this is a sunshower, Geralt!" 

He spreads his hands as if he's made some sort of point. If he has, Geralt is not privy to it. "I fail to see the difference."

"You _would_ ," Jaskier grumbles, but there's a playful fondness in his words that takes away any bite.

"Enlighten me," he says, after only a short pause, and watches Jaskier blink, eyes going wide and mouth dropping open, before he lights up like a second sun.

Geralt had told himself many times in the past that when he cut off the bard's ramblings, refused to engage, denied his curiosity, it was for the sake of his own sanity. That he needed the quiet to center himself. That it was better for both of them that way, lest Geralt lose his patience and lash out.

The truth was that somewhere along the way, indulging the bard became a temptation he had to force himself to ignore. Because giving in felt like a trap; nothing in Geralt's life came that easily without consequences.

And every time he forgot that, every time he slipped, every time he gave in, Jaskier carved a deeper hollow into Geralt's life to curl himself into.

He used to fear that there would be nothing left of himself, if he didn't resist. But with the new… understanding… that has been growing between them, Geralt's life doesn't seem as small as it once did.

There might just be room to accommodate both of them.

It's still an effort to fight the instincts he's trained into himself, but when he does --

Jaskier's eyes shine up at him, his face going almost unbearably soft. Just when Geralt would have to look away, Jaskier glances aside instead, coming back with a more blandly pleasant expression. "Right! Sunshowers. So, you're just going along, minding your own business--"

"When have you ever done that?"

Jaskier's quick glare is wholly unconvincing. "-- _minding your own business_ , enjoying a nice spot of lovely weather, convinced that you know that the next little bit of the day will bring more of the same, and then -- plot twist! Everything changes! It's now sunny _and_ raining!" He combs his slicked-down hair off his forehead, flicking rainwater off his hand -- away from Roach -- then looks up at Geralt. "It's really not a _bad_ change, is it? Of course, it's unexpected, but that doesn't have to mean it's bad, it just means… different."

He stares down at the bard for a moment. Before Jaskier came along, most of the changes in his life _were_ for the worse. But that's not the case any more.

He should tell him that, at some point.

"Different meaning more wet," Geralt says instead, staring at him through a dripping lock of his own hair, but Jaskier waves him off. 

"Yes, well, that never really lasts long, does it?" Jaskier holds out his hand, palm up, and the rain does indeed seem to be passing, the clouds responsible scudding along briskly overhead. "And then comes the very best part. Afterwards, everything is just a little bit remade."

"To be damp."

Jaskier audibly scoffs, smacking his fingers against Geralt's boot. "Pedant." He gestures at the forest beside them. "For a little while, the whole world just -- sparkles a bit, doesn't it?"

Geralt could tell him why -- that there are tiny particles of water in the air, refracting the sunlight. That witchers see things too well, and that the magic Jaskier finds is lost on him.

Instead he looks down at Jaskier's face, his eyes piercingly beautiful in the light. "For a little while," he allows, and Jaskier beams at him again, almost too bright to look at.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [kageygirl](http://kageygirl.tumblr.com) on tumblr, hit me up to yell about these idiots and their idiot feelings


End file.
